Wall construction and bond



June 28, 1960 A., A. KAUL WALL CONSTRUCTION AND BOND 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed July 19, 1954 INVENTOR. Aer/we A. A4401,

' BY I M *gmm A I'TOIQ/VEFJ A. A. KAUL WALL CONSTRUCTION AND BOND June28, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 19, 1954 R m m m AerM/e A. K401,

. INVENTOR. v 5d I ART/l0? A. KAZ/L June 28,1960 A. A. KAUL v 2,942,453

WALL CONSTRUCTION AND BOND Filed July 19, 1954 4' Sheets-Sheet s 4TIDE/V6749 June 28, v1960 A. A. KAUL WALL CONSTRUCTION AND BOND FiledJuly 19, 1954 4 sheets-sheet 4 INV TOR. ART/4UP ,4. 540.4

4 T roe/V5145 United States Patent WALL CONSTRUCTION AND BOND Arthur A.Kaul, First Federal Savings & Loan Bldg.,

Chehalis, Wash.

Filed July 19, 1954, Ser. No. 443,988

4 Claims. (Cl. 72-'-38) The present invention concerns a wallconstruction involving a minimum number of different styles or shapes ofan interlocking wall block or unit, with which may be built walls,partitions, corners, etc., making up a complete building structure,usually molded of concrete, and

more particularly concerns the employment in such a structure of astandardized bond unit, of a thin material such as sheet metal, wherebya wall structure running in a given line or plane, and a partition wall(using the latter term to define any wall which extends at an angle tothe line or plane of that first mentioned wall structure, and abuts thelatter) may be joined together without the employment of specialjunction or corner block units.

-It has been proposed many times heretofore to build building structuresof. interlocking block units, "without the use of mortar. In many suchproposals the several from the standard units of which the wall isprimarily constructed, but which are necessary in order to tie into thestandard block units of which each of the main wall structure and thepartition wall is built. The situation is .further complicated if thepartition wall, as is sometimes the case with interior partitions, isbuilt of block units of a style differing from the style of units in themain wall structure. Usually a minimum of several different specialunits are required in order to satisfy all probable requirements,without regard, however, to special requirements, such as the meeting ofwalls at angles other than right angles.

Such special block units have no utility except at the junction of twosuch walls. Nevertheless, they must be manufactured specially, in smallquantities, and yet must be stored, shipped, handled, and be madeavailable on 'tures that they have not,in the main, been widely used,

notwithstanding the advantages inherent in their use in stamped cheaplyand in large quantities from sheet metal,, and applicable withoutmodification in every course and 2,942,453 Patented: June 28,1960

to my usual type of junction, so long as the standard block units areused in the two adjoining walls, enables the wall structures of thisinvention to be" built of onl y two-block styles, namely a full sizeblock and a half t size block, and thereby reduces the variety of blockstyles to a minimum, and maintains the cost of its building at thelowest practicable figure, yet sacrifices nothing in strength,appearance, or utility. All corners'and wall termini are smoothlycomplete. Each course at each junction is thoroughlybonded across thejoint between walls. The cost of the bond units is negligible, andespecially so in comparison to the cost of special block styles. Theyare light in weight, and easily handled and installed. Nodisplacement'of blocks at the junctions, in order to accommodate thebond units, is required. The

bond units are invisible in the finished wall. They tie into the severalblocks in each wall, across'their joint, and obviate the need formortar, yet permitthe use'of stucco .to seal the joints, and for addedbonding, if desired. I

The block units, aside from the bond units, are so .formed as tointerlock in each wall against separation lengthwise or transversely ofthe wall, yet are readily laid'up. Preferably the interlocking is oftriple nature, whereby the blocks are quite accurately located,lengthwise of the wall, in the direction of itsthickness, andvertically, in correct relationship to the other blocks, and arestrongly held in such relationship. The bond units are designed tocooperate directly with one such interlocking means. I These blocks are,in a preferred form, made in a manner which maintains their accuracy oflocation, yetreduces the amount of material incorporated in' eachthereof, hence reduces their weight and cost.

Each such block has, by preference, spacer lugs to space it above blocksin the course .helow, whereupon it rests. By such means a space is leftwhich will admit stucco later applied for appearance or as a bond, andpermits. penetration of such stuccointo-the interior of thewall,suificient for sealing. all joints between block units.

The principles which underlie the presentinvention,

and the mechanical structures by which-those'principles are carried out,will be better understood from astudy present invention (in a basicform) used in a wall struc- V ture and in a partition wall abutting at acorner, together with a bond unit ready for location at the jointbetween the two walls. 1

Figure 2 is a view similar toFigure l,'showing a second course in placeupon each of the wall structure and of the partition wall, and showingan identical bond unit located in the same manner across the jointbetween the two.

Figure 3 is a view similanto Figure l, but showing gthe first course ofthe partition wallabutting the first course of the wall structure properintermediate the length of the latter, and showing also thebond unit inp lace. V w U.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2, but of the 1 meetingofthe secondcourses of the wall structureand partition wall of theI-typeillustratedin Figure 3.. 7

Figure 5 is an underside isometric view of thejoint betweena wallstructure and a partition wall such as that illustrated in Figures land2, illustrating the relationship of a bond unit to the lower edges ofthe block units in a course.

Figure 6 is an isometric view of a standard full length stretcher blockunit of simple basic design, such as is used, in the walls of Figures 1to 5. :Figure 6 also illustrates by dash lines the division of such ablock unit into two half block units, which is the only other stylereillustrating a somewhat modified and lightened form of block unit,such as is presently the preferred form.

Figure 9 is a top plan view of a block unit of the style of Figure 8,and of portions of two other block units interlocking therewith, andFigure 10 is a cross-sectional view through the wall structure thusformed, along the line 10-10 of Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a vertical detail section of two courses at the junction oftwo wall structures, taken lengthwise of the stem of a special T-shapedbond strip.

The wall construction of the present invention employs primarily twoseries or tiers in each course, of a standard or normal stretcher blockunit, or (mostly at the ends) including half blocks, but requiring nospecial junction block units of any sort or at any place in the wall. Itincludes the manner of assembly of such blocks in interlockingrelationship .into a wall, or walls at an angle, in the latter case bymeans of the use of a special bond strip which is so formed as tointerlock with the blocks in each course in the walls which meet at anangle,

either at a corner or intermediate the length of one of the walls. Theinterlocking of the blocks and of the bond strip at the junction betweentwo walls may be such that the individual blocks in one series or tierinterfit and interhook each with blocks in the other series or tier inthe same course, to eliminate'the possibility of separation orappreciable displacement relative to one an- 40 other of all blocks inthe same course in a given wall, either longitudinally or transversely,and/or by the preferred addition of cups and buttons the blocksinterlock also as between courses to prevent any possibility ofdisplacement of the blocks of one course relative to those'of anadjoining course. The bond strip, cooperating with the between theblocks after the wall construction is completed, which grout serves notonly to hold the block units in their relative positions against anydisplacement whatever, but also serves as a seal to prevent entrance ofmoisture, wind, dirt, and the like, into the crevices between blocks,and if applied heavily enough serves also?- as a stucco to give thefinal wall a finished appearance. One form of standard stretcher blockunit is shown in full length, in a basic form, in Figure 6. It is formedas a longitudinally extending stretcher block I intended to be disposedon one edge, which block includes a vertical planar exterior face 10,two vertical end walls 2a and 2b, and two hooks 3a and 3b, directedinwardly towards one another at the face opposite the face 10, andspaced from the latter by a distance approximating the thickness. of thehooks themselves, but spaced apart to leave an opening between the hooks3a and 3b of a width sufficient to admit the thickness of two end walls.

Reference has been made above to end walls andhooks 4 are referred togenerally rather than some one individually and specifically, thenumeral only will be used.

The proportions of the block unit are of some importance. 'If theeffective thickness of the planar face 10 be taken as a modular unit,the effective thickness of each hook 3 is likewise a modular unit, andthe overall effective thickness of the block unit is three modularunits. Its length is by preference eight modular units. Since the endsof the hooks 3a and 3b are spaced apart by twice the thickness of theend wall (which also is approximately one modular unit), this spacingbecomes two modular units, and the tip of each hook is three modularunits from the nearer end wall. The reference to effective thicknessmeans only that the actual distance is somewhat less, due to thenecessity for leaving clearance to allow interfitting of the blocks, aswill later be made clear. By way of example, rather than as alimitation, a modular unit may be assumed to be two inches. The heightof the block units is immaterial, but is shown as equal to the overallwidth, namely, three modular units.

Each such full length block, of whatever specific form,

'is provided upon one of its horizontal edges or surfaces,

wall 2b. The cups 4a and 4c are therefore spaced apart one-half thelength of a block, or four modular units, as are the cups 4b and 4d. Thecups 4a and 4c are thereby located near the points of the respectivehooks 3a and 3b, whereas the cups 4b and 4d are located in the edge ofthe planar wall portion 10. Similar buttons generally designated 5, andspecifically the four buttons represented at 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d (seeFigure 5, for example) are identically located but in the oppositehorizontal surface, in this instance, in the bottom surface of eachblock 1. In this manner, if one such block were to be set directly uponanother, the buttons 5 in the lower surface of the upper block would bereceived in the cups 4 in the lower block, and one block would thus belocated accurately above the other, and the two blocks would beprevented, without more, from relative displacement in any lateraldirection. The blocks are not ordinarily stacked thus, one directlyabove another, as will be made clearer hereinafter. The block dimensionsare such that the cups and buttons, as locating elements, insure slightspacing between end and side faces of adjoining blocks in the samecourse, into which grout or stucco material may be forced to seal thejoints.

In addition, it is preferred that each block be provided with a seriesof spacer lugs 6, outstanding beneath its lower surface by a sufficientamount to rest upon the upper surface of blocks in the course below andto space the block above from the blocks below. The height of the spacerlugs 6 should be less than the height of the buttons 5, so that thebuttons will always enter the proper cups 4, and serve to locate theblocks above with relation to the'blocks below. The spacer lugs leave aslight crevice between the blocks when laid upon one another in'courses,which crevice will serve for the reception of grouting and bonding ofstucco.

The blocks are laid up in manners typically illustrated in'Figures l to5, inclusive. It will be convenient to designate the wall A as the mainwall structure and the walls B or B as partition walls, within thedefinitions laid up in running courses, each composed of two seriesabove. In the wall structure A, the blocks are merely or tiers. In whatmay be taken as the first or exterior tier a series of blocks 1 areend'abutted, the first course individually designated by a numeral and aletter. Here inafter, if these and other elements similarly designatedresting upon a suitable footing F, and in the second or interior'tier,the blocks are similarly laid up but at half I block spacings, that isto say, overlapping by one-half block, or four modular units, the blocksin the same course in the exterior tier. In so doing, the hooks 3a ofeach block in the interior tier are interengaged or interhooked with thehooks 3b of the blocks in the exterior tier, and the other hook 3b ofthe blocks in the interior tier are each interhooked with the hook 3a ofa difllere'nt block in the exterior tier. The manner of interfitting theblocks is very clearly shown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive,

and can be ascertained much more readily by inspection of these figuresthan from any verbal description.

. At the end of'the wall structure A, a half block 1' interengages withthe single unmatched hook 3 of the terminal block 1, in the manner shownin Figure 1, for

example, and thereby finishes the terminus of the wall smoothly.

A partition wall B, such as meets the wall A at a corner as shown inFigures 1, 2 and 5, has its blocks laid up in identically the same way,and at the batted joint manner, both in the wall structure A and in thepartition wall vl5, substantially the only difference being theernployment of a half block 1' which is of the opposite hand from thehalf block in the course below. In the second course, the buttons enterthe cups 4 in the blocks of the course below, but since the blocks inthe second course are all set to break joint by a half-block spacingwith theblocks in the course below, it will be clear that the buttons 5aand 5b in the course above enter the cups 4c and 4d in one block in thecourse below, and the buttons 50 and 5d of this same block in the uppercourse enter the chps4aand 4b of a difierent block in the course below.In this manner, the block in the course above is located by and helps tomaintain proper location as between the two diiierent blocks in thecourse below, and to prevent relative movement of the latter two blocksin any horizontal direction. Again, as in the first course,

the blocks in the second course in the partition wall B merely abut theterminal block or blocks in the second course of the main wall structureA. Again, there is no bond in this second course, and the lack ofbinding would continue all the way up the corner, were no bonding unitemployed.

Bonding units of one kind or another have been proposed for masonryconstruction in general, generally for cross bonding the independentstretcher blocks of a given course but in diiterent tiers, or forlongitudinally bonding all stretcher blocks of a course in a singletier, but not across corners to bond together the blocks in diflerentwall curtains. Often it has been necessary to form the block toaccommodate the bonding unit, rather than the reverse. The bonding unitof this invention must acoommodate itself to the block units such as maybe specifically formed for interlocking in three directions, in suchmanner that such interlocking of the blocks it not interfered with, andthe bonding unit is required only at corners, where the blocks cannotinterlock except by employing special units, reliance being placedelsewhere upon the normal interlocking directly between the blocks ofstandard design. By the employment of this interlocking or bonding unitall need of special corner blocks, or of blocks specially formed toaccommodate a bonding unit, is eliminated, yet the wall is stronglybonded at' all usual corners, whatever the lay-up of the blocks at suchcorners. The bond unit need be made up of only a single standard shape,usable in all usual corner bonds and in every tier and course thereof,and likewise the blocks can all be "of a single standard shape, orhalves thereof."

. 6 The special bonding unit comprises a bond strip 7 formed of thinmaterial, usually of sheet metal, from which it can be readily stamped.It is of general T-shape, having a cross arm SeXtending atboth sides ofand braced by brace bars 12 from a centrally located stem 9. The stem isprovided with anchor members 10, later described more specifically, toengagethe two interhooked block units below it in a given course of thewall A, and the cross 'arin 8 is similarly provided with anchor members11 which likewise engage the two interhooked block units in the samecourse, but of the wall B. Furthermore, these same anchor members of thestem and of the "cross arms in like fashion engage the twointerhookedblock units in the course above in walls A and B respectively. Theseanchor members might engage the block units in only one course, so longas the blocks of the courses above and below interlock (as by the cups 4and buttons 5) as between themselves; also, it would be immaterial insuch case whether the anchor members engage the block units of the upperor the lower course. The result, the immobilizing of the block units ineach wall at the joint, relative to one another and relative to theother wall, and the distribution of side stresses from either wall tothe other, would be the same in either case. 7

Actually theanchor members 10 and 11, in the form shown, engage theblock units in the course above and also the block units in the coursebelow, in each wall A and B. These anchor members, as best showninFi'g'ure 5, in their preferred form are constituted by holes of a sizeto fit snugly about certain buttons 5, together with metal downturnedfrom the holes, or formed as downturned collars surrounding the holes,and of a size to be received in the cups4 which the same buttons enter.The four anchor members it) or the stem are spaced from one another by asingle modular unit. They engage the cups 4c and 4d of the terminalwhole block unit 1, and also the cups 4c and 4d of the terminal half.block unit 1' of wall 'A inthe first course (see Figure 1)., and alsoengage the buttons 5 of like terminal block units in wall A, in thesecond course. At the same time the anchor members 11 of the cross arm8,being also-spaced from one another by one modular unit, and from thelast an:

'chor member 10 by two and one-half modularunits, engage the cups 4c and4dof each of the terminal block unit 1 and of the terminal half-blockunit 1 in the first course of partition wall B, and the buttons 5 ofliketerminal block units in the second course of wall B. A like bondstripsimilarly connects the upper edges of terminal block units in the secondcourse of each of walls A and B, as shown in Figure 2, and so on up. Therelationship of such a bond strip '7 to the lower edge of block units intwo such walls A and B is shown in Figure 5. a

Since the bond strip 7 and its anchoring member 10 and 11 are of thinmaterial, the bond strip can be received in the space between courses,such asis provided by the spacer lugs 6, without displacement of theblocks a vertically, and can be received within the cups withoutdisplacement of the buttons or their blocks laterally. When so received,each bond strip interlocks both with the blocks in the course below andwith the blocks in the course above, and, of course, interlocks at thetop and bottom of each course across the joint. The buttons are ofslightly smaller cross-section than the cups so as to afford clearancetherebetween for reception of the anchor elements depressed from thebonding strip.

The location and function of the bond strips is identical where the wallstructure -A and the partition wall B meet at a corner intermediate theends of the wall structure A. ,Any such joint may be made at spacings ofone-half the length of a standard full length stretcher block 1.

n such a wall is normally laid up by setting the blocks upon one anotherin the manner already indicated, using a b'oiid strip on top of eachcourse at each abutted joint.

Ordinarily, no mortar or grout is used in the laying up, although thisis not to say that the use of a thin grout or wash is prohibited. Such awash may desirably be placed upon the upper edge of each course andpermitted to run into the cups, where it will be displaced and willsurround the buttons of the blocks in the course above when the latterare set in place. Alternatively, or additionally, when the wall iscompleted, a grout can be placed within the joints or over the entireexterior surface of the wall. Such a grout can be blown into place by acement gun, and, particularly when so placed, will penetrate somewhatinto the crevices, vertical and horizontal, between the blocks,including the crevice where one wall abuts the other. Thus, it willserve to bond the blocks further and to prevent their displacement, andis desirable in any event as a seal to prevent entrance of moisture,dirt and the like into the crevices, and as a seal against passage ofdrafts through the wall. When such grout is so placed, the crevicesbetween blocks virtually disappear, and the bond strips becomeinvisible. The entire wall surface is smoothly finished, for there areno gaps of greater width than the narrow crevices defined by the spacerlugs 6 and by the standard length of the stem portion 9 of each bondunit 7, or such as are determined by the spacing longitudinally causedby the locating cups and buttons, by their interengagement.

It has been mentioned that the bond units 7 are provided with brace bars12 between the stem 9 and the ends of the cross arm portion 8. Unlesscare is taken to prevent it, these and a portion of the stem mightinterfere with the spacer lugs 6, as is best seen in Figure 5, whereforethe brace bars 12 are not formed as solid gussets of metal, but themetal is cut out to leave apertures 13. Thereby, as may be seen in thedot-dash position of the bond strip in Figure 5, certain of the spacer.

lugs 6 will pass through these apertures 13 and interference is avoided.

Similar principles may be incorporated in a curved wall, for instance,in building a silo, as is illustrated in Figure 7. Here, there will beno necessity of using bond strips unless a partition wall is abuttedagainst the curved wall, yet nevertheless, the interlocking afforded bythe hooks and by the cups and buttons will serve to resist strongly anyoutward bursting stresses which may be caused by the presence ofmaterial within the silo. In the silo, the shaft could be made of thenormal blocks, and by its mass would tend to prevent outwarddisplacement of the terminal blocks of the curved wall. These lattercould be further secured by bonding them to the terminal blocks of theshaft walls by the standard bond unit, slightly bent or deformed to fit.

There has been no illustration of the abutment of two walls at an angleother than at a right angle. Except for the silo shaft, mentioned above,this in any event would be a special case, and would require speciallyconstructed block units, and would, in addition, require a speciallymade bond unit. If, however, there is a sufiicient need for so abuttingtwo walls, it becomes a simple matter to make up special block unitswith angled ends and to provide angled bond units to join two such wallsabutting at other than a right angle.

The preferred form of the block unit itself is shown in Figures 8 to 10,inclusive wherein elements bear doubleprimed reference numerals similarto the numerals applied to corresponding elements in the precedingfigures. This form differs from the basic unit of the preceding figuresprimarily in that its walls, other than the end walls, are made somewhatthinner, yet the hooks 3" and planar vertical walls 10 are made tointer-fit snugly by the employment of spacer ribs 14, which projectinwardly from the interior surface of the planar wall 10" and from theinterior surface of the books 3''. The effective thickness of the blocksparts is still the same as before, notwithstanding the decrease inactual thickness thereof. Preferably, these spacer ribs do not extenddownwardly from the blocks upper edge more than about one-third theheight of the block, and taper off to leave a wider space between thelower edge of the block, as best seen in Figure 10. This affords greaterspace for circulation of air and for thermal insulation, and it permitsthe entrance of grout for better bonding, provided sufiicient grout isblown into the crevices to penetrate so far. In addition, as may be bestseen in Figure 9, the spacer ribs 14 on the hooks 3" are so located asto overlap one another, and further to prevent endwise separation of theblocks.

I claim as my invention:

,1. A wall construction including a first wall structure of blocksdisposed end to end in courses and extending continuously in a line anda second wall structure of similar blocks similarly disposed, as in saidfirst wall structure, and directed at an angle to the first wallstructure and at one of its ends adjoining the latter, each block inboth wall structures having cups and buttons on their respectivehorizontal surfaces which interfit with like buttons and cups of blocksin the courses above and below, bond strips each of a thinness to fitbetween courses, interposed between the courses of each of the two wallstructures and spanning the junction between the first and second wallstructures, said bond strips having apertures through which pass thebuttons from buttonbearing blocks of one course into the cups of blocksin the adjoining course, and the bond strips also being formed withoutstanding anchors about the margins of its apertures, which arereceived in the cups, the cups, buttons, anchors and aperturesinterlocking the blocks in successive courses and the two wallstructures against lateral separation, to unite the whole into the saidwall construction.

2. A wall construction including a first wall structure of blocks eachhaving a vertical exterior wall, end walls directed inwardly from theopposite ends of said exterior wall, and hooks directed from the innerends of the respective end walls towards but stopping short of theopposite hook, and spaced from the exterior wall, said blocks beingdisposed end to end in like inner and outer tiers in each course, thehooks of each two endto-end disposed blocks in the outer tier beinginterhooked with the respective hooks of a single block in the innertier, and the hooks of blocks in the inner tier being similarlyinterhooked with the hooks of blocks in the outer tier, the blocks insaid first wall structure extending continuously in a line, a secondpartition wall structure of similar blocks similarly disposed andinterhooked into two like tiers, as in said first wall structure, thepartition wall structure being directed at an angle to the first wallstructure and at one of its ends adjoining the latter, the severalblocks in the two wall structures having on their horizontal surfacescups and buttons located, by the stated interhooking of the blocks, inalignment transversely of the exterior wall with like buttons and cupsof the interhooked blocks, at medial lines between the end walls of eachpair of interhooked blocks, and the second wall structure including aterminal hooked half block in one tier of each course at the junctionwith the first wall structure, also formed with cups and buttons locatedin the wall structure in the specified alignment with those of theterminal whole block in the second wall structure, and bond strips of athickness to fit between courses and each generally of T-shape,interposed between courses of each of the two wall structures andtraversing the junction between the first and second wall structures,each bond strip being of a size and oriented with the cross arms of theT directed transversely of the terminal blocks of the second wallstructure and in registry with the transversely aligned cups and buttonsof such terminal blocks, and the stem of the T directed transversely ofthe adjoining blocks of the first wall structure and in registry withthe transversely aligned cups and buttons of such adjoining blocks,

each bond strip having apertures for passage of buttons of blocks in onecourse into complemental cups of blocks in the next course, to interlockthe two wall structures through said bond strips as the latter areinterlocked by the interengaging cups and buttons which interlock thesuccessive courses in each individual wall structure.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein the hooks of each block in agiven tier are spaced apart at their ends by a distance equal to thethickness of two end walls plus necessary clearances, to receive betweenthem the two end walls of two interhooked blocks in the opposite tier.

4. The combination of claim 2, wherein the exterior wall and the hooksof each block in a given tier are spaced apart by a distance equal tothe thickness of the hooks of interhooked blocks in the opposite tier,plus necessary clearances.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.22,913 Wells Sept. 9, 1947 Switzerland of 1938

